Manchester Buddhist Centre

To start off our autumn term, Maitreyabandhu is com­ing to Manchester to launch his new book, Life with Full Attention – a Practical Course in Mindfulness.

Maitreyabandhu is an exper­i­enced teacher and this is his second book. He has also pub­lished art­icles on Buddhism and med­it­a­tion in the UK and abroad, and has presen­ted Buddhism in the media, includ­ing tele­vi­sion and radio. He has worked in such diverse fields as the visual arts, opera and altern­at­ive health, and is a prize-winning poet (he won first prize in the International and Interfaith Religious Poetry Competition, Manchester Cathedral in 2007, for his poem Visitation, and second prize in 2008 for his poem The Bond) He is cur­rently the dir­ector of Breathing Space, the London Buddhist Centre’s health and well­being programme.

As well as all that, he’s a lovely man and a very enter­tain­ing speaker, and I’m sure it will be a great even­ing. We will also be launch­ing a new theme, Day to Day Mindfulness, with a dif­fer­ent aspect to explore for Sangha Nights in October and September

We prin­ted Maitreyabandhu’s poem Visitation in the news­let­ter in 2007, but here is The Bond:

The Bond

Now that we are here again in this dark place

we must find some­thing – a scratch of light,

an oval pebble. And we must sit here quietly

till he comes, wait patiently, not look

too often out of the win­dow, not peep,

but know that he is com­ing, yes, and make

a clean place – like hav­ing clipped nails

and washed hands and a sharp pen­cil at the ready.

No crumbs. No digres­sions. We should say

gentle now and gen­tle­ness, like someone calming

a horse, or help­ing a child hold a kitten.

But not sweetly, not gingerly – hair pulled back,

but­tons and a smock – he wouldn’t want that.

Just the air blow­ing through us. Just the air.